Waist circumference measures: cutoff analyses to detect obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors in a Southeast Brazilian middle-aged men population - a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Low-cost practical and reliable tools to evaluated obesity-related cardiometabolic diseases are of clinical practice and public heath relevance worldwide. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to determine the anatomical point of waist circumference that best identify overweight, obesity and central obesity in Southeast Brazilian middle-aged men and to test the relationships of its cutoff points with metabolic syndrome (MetS), insulin resistance (IR) and cardiometabolic risk factors. METHODS: Three hundred men [age: 51 (47–54)] underwent anthropometric, body composition, clinical, sociodemographic and blood plasma biochemical evaluations. RESULTS: The umbilical line circumference (WC(UL)) was the best predictor for overweight (total body fat ≥ 20%; cutoff point: 88.8 cm), obesity (total body fat ≥ 25%; cutoff point: 93.4 cm) and central obesity (abdominal area fat ≥ 34.6%; cutoff point: 95.6 cm) as measured by dual beam X-ray absorptiometry. Subjects with WC(UL) ≥ 88.8 cm or ≥ 93.4 cm showed significantly higher values for MetS, IR and cardiometabolic risk factors (i.e. glucose and lipid profiles, blood pressure). The occurrence of WC(UL) ≥ 88.8 cm was positively associated (p <0.01) with the prevalence of MetS and cardiometabolic risk factors and increased the central obesity prevalence by 19.3% while that of WC(UL) ≥ 93.4 cm was associated with the prevalence of MetS, IR and cardiometabolic risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: WC(UL) measure seems to be the best predictor for overweight, obesity and central obesity in urban residents Southeast Brazilian middle-aged men; and the WC(UL) cutoff point (88.8 cm) is significantly associated with MetS, IR and cardiometabolic risk factors in the studied population.